DRC welcomes UNSC resolution creating humanitarian exemption from sanctions

The resolution will provide much-needed predictability for NGOs, protect humanitarian workers, and ensure that life-saving aid reaches those most in need in a timely and efficient manner. We stand ready to support the full and immediate operationalization of the resolution to maintain this momentum and achieve a positive impact for affected communities. 

The NGO community has long advocated for the UN and its member states to establish more systemic protections from sanctions for humanitarian actors. Regardless of their stated purpose, each time sanctions are imposed without appropriate safeguards, they risk disrupting humanitarian operations and the financial networks and supply chains on which these operations rely, ultimately hampering our ability to reach affected communities. With the establishment of a global humanitarian exemption from sanctions, the UN Security Council has provided long-awaited clarity to NGOs and lifted a major barrier to the safe and principled delivery of humanitarian assistance.  

This resolution will undoubtedly save lives, by ensuring that civilians have access to critical humanitarian aid when and where it is most needed and by protecting humanitarian workers from being put at legal or physical risk for doing their jobs.  

We appreciate the role of the United States and the Republic of Ireland in leading the way to make the vision of global humanitarian sanctions relief a reality. Their efforts and the support of the UN Security Council show what can be accomplished through thoughtful and constructive engagement between state actors and civil society to prioritize humanitarian principles and law.  

DRC looks forward to continued collaboration on this issue with UN member states, whom we encourage to work with the private sector – especially financial institutions – to implement this resolution at the domestic level and ensure that humanitarian activities are allowed to continue without delay where they are most acutely needed.